Careless
by Irhaboggles
Summary: Aurora had always been careless. For better or for ill, that innocence had not faded with time. Maleficent loved it, for sure, but it did make keeping the young girl safe a bit tricky at times. But then again, parents nagging their children to stay safe was all part and parcel of having a family. Maleficent (and Aurora) would just have to get used to it!
1. Careless

"Beastie!" Maleficent heaved a tired, impatient sigh.

"I wasn't in _that _much danger," Aurora ducked her head defensively, already ready for what was sure to be another very long, boring lecture from her godmother. Aurora had, once again, nearly fallen into danger while exploring parts of her human domain. Even though she spent most of her time in the Moors, every once in a while, she would go out to explore the human kingdom. It was not this choice to explore the human kingdom that bothered Maleficent, though. What bothered Maleficent was what little concern Aurora seemed to have about her own safety.

The girl was not stupid. She knew the wicked ways of men. She had seen it firsthand! And yet for some reason, the girl would waltz carelessly around the town in a blind and overly trusting confidence that only young, innocent children should have. Of course Maleficent knew Aurora had a naturally open, friendly and trusting disposition, but she still expected more from the girl. She thought that Aurora, of all people, would have a good head on her shoulders and know when to lay low, if only for the sake of a slightly safer journey through human lands. But no, Aurora was just as reckless as any immature child. The proof was in her latest expedition out beyond the borders of the Moors.

Aurora had gone into the kingdom's market square just to socialize with some of her fellow humans. During this time, she was nearly robbed and mugged (separate incidents) because she refused to keep a more wary eye on her surroundings. Although the kingdom was doing better with Stefan dead, reparations weren't going to happen overnight. There were still many rogues and thieves lurking the streets and it was only Aurora's nimble strength and speed that got her back to the Moors before any real harm befell her. But even though she had come home unscathed, when Maleficent heard the tale of Aurora's carelessness, she was quick to lecture the young girl.

"I've told you and told you and told you! You can't go dancing through life so mindless and careless!" she cried. "You need to keep-"

"-keep my feet on the ground, head out of the clouds, eyes straight ahead and mouth shut," Aurora interrupted in a deadpanning tone. "I know."

"Then why-?" Maleficent began, gritting her teeth at Aurora's flippant behavior.

"Don't I do it?" Aurora again finished her godmother's question before it could be asked completely. "Why am I so careless?"

"Yes," Maleficent growled through her teeth, patience running thin.

"Oh, I don't know, godmother!" Aurora sighed, sounding genuinely frustrated. Not with Maleficent, but with herself. "I don't know why I'm so… careless and airheaded! I don't mean to be. All I want to do is go out for a walk and meet some of my people! I don't know why that has to be such a challenge! I just can't seem to keep my focus where it should be! I just get so caught up and carried away, but I don't know how or why!"

The girl heaved a tired sigh and Maleficent's irritated expression faded away (to some degree). While she was still deeply disapproving of Aurora's foolhardy actions, hearing the sincerity in the girl's voice made Maleficent realize that Aurora, although certainly not stupid, really _wasn't _as wary or alert as she ought to have been. But that wasn't really her fault, per se. In the Moors, it was very safe to travel just about anywhere, so long as you were respectful. In the human kingdom, though, such niceties weren't always afforded and you could be attacked on sight, for no reason at all. Of course a girl raised in the Moors would be unused to such backwards thinking! But though Aurora's careless nature was forgivable, that it didn't make it any less dangerous. Maybe Aurora was stronger, smarter and faster than most of her subjects, due mostly to her life in the Moors, but she wouldn't be able to finesse her way out of every danger. Not forever, at least.

"I understand it must be frustrating for you," Maleficent finally sighed. "Trying to learn how to be a human when you've spent so much of your life living as one of the Moor folk. But you still need to be more careful. We've talked about this before! How many times have I had to give you this lecture? How many times have we gone over safety precautions about what you should do if you ever visited the human kingdom?" Maleficent's motherly side was coming out in spades as she cocked her head and continued to chide Aurora gently.

"I know, I know," Aurora hung her head, but it was not totally out of shame. Although Aurora did feel bad, to some degree, she also was really tired of hearing Maleficent go on and on and on and on about the evils of humanity. Even if it was all true, it got tiring to hear. Like she, herself, had said, how many times had she given Aurora this lecture? How many times had they gone over this very topic? It was all very tedious to Aurora now and she was hoping that if she looked apologetic enough, Maleficent would hurry along and let her go already.

But Maleficent was not stupid and she knew exactly what Aurora was doing. Although Aurora was genuinely, and generally, a good, kind, honest and moral person, she was still a teenage girl and, like all teenage girls, she could be rebellious, impatient, immature and petty. Maleficent knew full well Aurora was only saying sorry now to try to evade any further lecture or punishment. Well, that just wasn't going to stand! Although Maleficent hated disciplining Aurora just as much as Aurora hated being disciplined, it had to happen in order to instill into Aurora's head the severity of what she had done. Ignorance was no excuse. Aurora had to start being more careful, before something else might happen to her.

"I think that in light of what you have done, I am going to request that you stay away from the human kingdom for two weeks, and that Diaval will keep an eye on you at all times until your punishment is over," the Dark Fairy decided.

"Awwww! What? You're grounding me? No! You can't!" Aurora whined, opening her mouth in dismay and horror.

"No, Beastie, I've made up my mind on the matter," Maleficent replied sternly.  
"But-!"

"No buts," Maleficent interrupted again.

"Godmother-!"

"No godmothers either!" Maleficent continued, frowning at Aurora. Aurora's mouth continued to hang open, but she could think of no further protest. Despite herself, Maleficent smirked at the sight. There was her sweet little Aurora, mouth open like a frog's as her face scrunched up like a baby troll, about to throw a fit because its parents wouldn't let it engage in another mud fight. It really was quite cute, Maleficent couldn't deny.

"Oh, do close your mouth, Beastie," Maleficent teased. "You don't want to let the flies in!" in response, Aurora made another indignant gasp but could still think of nothing to say, so she finally closed her mouth with a reluctant pout. Maleficent had to bite back a laugh now. If Aurora had looked silly before, the pout was even more adorable. But instead of laughing, Maleficent only shook her horned head in amusement before turning to saunter off. She gestured for Aurora to follow her.

"Come, Beastie, let us fetch Diaval. I am sure he will be more than happy to play the role of your bodyguard for these next two weeks!" she said.

"Two weeks!" she heard Aurora whisper to herself in disbelief and outrage, but then she heard the telltale sounds of Aurora obediently tromping after her. She didn't need to turn around to imagine the pout on Aurora's face. The thought was enough to bring out a smile on her own.

**AN: To ****Qiralyn Cassette****, here's your "Maleficent chides Aurora for going into danger and Aurora tries to get out of it". This was a cute, fun little fic to write and definitely adds some more "mother-daughter cliché moments" for them. Hope you liked it!**

**(Also, this is set after Maleficent 1 but before Maleficent 2)**


	2. Lesson Learned

For a time, Aurora submitted to the punishment Maleficent had given her, dutifully remaining in the Moors with Diaval always watching over her (literally, he was always only ever a few feet away, hovering over her). She restrained herself from ever skirting too close to the human kingdom. Instead, she made do in the Moors, which was easy enough. But after about 10 days, while walking closer to the human kingdom, Diaval caught sight of something that reminded Aurora of a big event she didn't want to miss out on.

"Hmmm, the humans are more active than normal!" Diaval turned back into his human form to converse with Aurora.

"What did you see?" she asked him.

"Well, I can hear cheering, and I see all these bright flags and streamers. It looks like some sort of festival…" he said.

"The Autumnal Equinox!" Aurora replied with a gasp. Even though the kingdom was still crawling its way back out of the economic mire Stefan had drowned it in, the people of the kingdom still liked to celebrate whatever they could whenever they could. It brought some small pleasure to their dismal lives. This Autumnal Equinox was one of those celebrations.

Aurora had gotten peeks of it before, whenever she'd sneak away from her ditzy aunts to take a closer look at the human realm, but of course she had never been able to attend properly. This would be her first year where she could go freely and actually participate! Oh. Wait. That was right. She was grounded… She cast a tired look at Diaval. Although she loved him dearly, he was taking Maleficent's commands to "watch her like a hawk" way too seriously. (Aurora was honestly surprised he hadn't tried turning into a hawk just to cement how dedicated he would be to his new job as her overseer). With him constantly looking over her shoulder (literally), she would never be able to go to the celebration. Sure, her punishment was only four days more, but she couldn't wait four more days! This celebration was only one day and she either had to sneak out now and see it, or wait an entire year to go to the next one and hope something didn't pop up in the interim.

At last, Aurora finally decided to sneak out. Although she'd never snuck away from Maleficent or Diaval before, she considered herself up to the challenge. Even if her aunts had always been painfully easy to dupe, years of running out on them gave Aurora some idea of what she could do to throw Diaval and Maleficent off her trail…

It took a bit of time, much more than it ever would've taken if Aurora was only trying to trick her aunties, but Aurora finally got it done. After asking some of the Moorland trolls to request an audience with Maleficent about some issues they were having with their river system, and after tricking Diaval into helping her forge for berries, Aurora left both of her caretakers distracted long enough for her to make a run for the human kingdom, which she did without further hesitation and was able to pull off perfectly.

"I did it!" she cried with breathless pride as she reached the festival grounds. It was a nice little celebration, vendors flocking their wears as citizens ran to and fro, exploring everything that there was to offer. Alongside the vendors there were entertainers, singers, dancers, artists, storytellers. In spite of all that Stefan had done to these people, they still had spirit. It was a spirit that could not be broken and Aurora admired them all the more for it. Perhaps she preferred fairy life over human life and perhaps some humans could be terribly wicked and cruel, but not all of them were like that. All she needed to do was look out at her human subjects to see it.

For the rest of the afternoon, Aurora spent her time roaming the fair. But after enough time, she began to notice how crowded it was getting. That was because people of other nearby kingdoms were coming to visit, eager to see the place where the evil tyrant, Stefan, used to live. They wanted to see how this kingdom was faring now that its leader was gone. And since they knew the stories about the human girl who had fled to live life in the Moors rather than the human castle, they were wondering if they might be able to exploit some of the citizens as well. They were doing well under a self-governed land, but it still made them look weak and incompetent to outside eyes. That was why so many foreigners were coming to visit. Some of it was from simple and honest curiosity while some of it was for more insidious and exploitative goals.

It was during this time that Aurora began to panic. With so many people everywhere, loud and crowded, it was growing harder and harder to move freely or safely. She was jostled constantly by other, more aggressive shoulders and she couldn't see over the tops of people's heads anymore. It was a little alarm to the girl who was used to being able to see anything and everything for miles. But now she felt very much lost under a sea of people and it was very stifling.

"I can't breathe!" she gasped to herself, worriedly, struggling to shove her way through the sea of people. But that wasn't easy. Strong as she was, even she was no match for a massive crowd. All she could do was go with the flow and pray that it was taking her closer to the edge of the crowd rather than the center of it. She could only see the ground she was walking on anymore. She couldn't see in front or behind and she could scarcely see above. It was like being trapped in a box with the walls closing in on all sides. It was loud and chaotic and Aurora longed to find something that she could simply climb up so that she could get a better vantage point, but this was not the Moors. There weren't any trees anywhere near her.

Aurora continued to panic and despair, cursing her own stupidity and realizing that maybe waiting to attend this festival would've been the wiser option. But she had made her choice. Now she had to suffer the consequences. But there was just so much noise! And sights. And smells. Surrounding her on all sides. All she could see were the tattered clothing of the people walking in front of her. All she could feel were the people behind her, pressing her forward relentlessly. Where was she going? She had no idea anymore. She didn't even know where she _was_! It was getting harder to breathe. She prayed that it would end soon, that she would escape soon, that she wouldn't be crushed to death.

_Focus, focus, focus! _She chanted to herself. _Breathe. Walk. Don't stumble. Keep moving. Breathe. Focus, focus, focus…_

Then suddenly, Aurora felt her feet lifting clean off the ground. At first, she began to panic, wondering if she was falling, or if she had perhaps gone mad. She began to scream for help, but before she could reach out to grab someone, she was too high off the ground to reach anyone, floating well over their heads. As she hovered in midair, all the citizens finally started to notice and watch with fascinated horror as Aurora levitated over them. Aurora, meanwhile, whipped her around wildly. Then she saw it. She finally saw _her_. Maleficent. Uh oh…

After being set back down again, this time safely away from the crowd, Aurora was left to walk back to the Moors shamefacedly. That was when the other citizens realized just who they were looking at, but none of them dared do anything because they knew exactly who it was that had caused the young girl to fly and none of them wanted to risk her wrath. Instead, they only watched their queen retreat to her woodland home where her godmother was waiting. This was _not _going to be a fun lecture. Aurora was so dead!

"Well? Have you anything to say for yourself?" Maleficent actually almost sounded amused as Aurora approached her, head bowed low.

"That I disobeyed your orders when I shouldn't have and nearly got into trouble just like you said I would?" she asked, eyes still glued to the floor.

"Look at me, Beastie," Maleficent commanded, voice gentle but stern. Aurora felt her heart begin to roar. It was the only time she ever truly felt terrified of Maleficent, not because she was afraid of what Maleficent would _do_ to her, but because of what Maleficent might _say_. But she was oth surprised and confused to see a humored look on Maleficent's face.

"Ummm, godmother? Shouldn't you be… angry, with me?" Aurora asked as she finally met Maleficent's eyes.

"Oh, I am," Maleficent replied casually, even shrugging slightly.

"Then why are you-?"

"So calm?" Maleficent finished her goddaughter's question with another amused smirk. Aurora nodded nervously. "Well, Beastie, that was because I think you have more than learned your lesson. Like I said, there will be some dangers that you cannot finesse your way out of, like a mob. Though you may be strong, smart, fast and eloquent, those skills mean nothing in situations like that. You're lucky it was a peaceful mob, though, rather than an army or some other more hostile form of a collective. But I see you have learned that lesson. I can only hope that it will stick."

"Trust me. I have. Lesson learned," Aurora nodded miserably. She was unscathed, even less battered than last time, but the feeling of being lost and trapped in a crowd with no way out had shaken her far more than simply outsmarting (and then outrunning) a lonely thief or two. Like Maleficent had said, a crowd was something no one could fight. She wasn't bluffing this time when she said that it was a lesson learned.

"Good," Maleficent still looked eerily pleased with herself.

"How long did it take you to find out about my deception?" Aurora asked next, still looking deeply ashamed. She didn't really want to talk about _that_ part of her misdeeds, but she figured it would be dishonest and wrong if she didn't address that part of her crime as well.

"Oh, darling Beastie," Maleficent cackled softly. "I didn't need to figure it out at all. I already knew. I always did."

"What?" Aurora asked, shame turning into confusion and curiosity.

"The moment those doddering trolls came to me rather than you, I knew you were up to something. You know those creatures fear me! Why would they ever choose me over you? And the alleged problem you sent them to complain about was something easily fixed without magic, so I was not on their last-resort list either," the Dark Fairy said smugly. Aurora cringed. Maybe she wasn't as clever as she'd thought…

"And as for Diaval? Well, he's no dumber than I am. The moment you asked him to go foraging, even though he was willing to let you go off on your own, he told me personally that he spent far more time looking for you than for any berries. And it was after he had failed to see you for longer than five minutes that he knew something was wrong. Since you know I have been sharing my magic with him, he used that power to turn into a bloodhound. He caught your scent headed towards the human kingdom and he could've gone after you and brought you back, but it was at _my _command that he let you go. I was already on my way over to you two by the time you chose to run."

"But why?" Aurora was blushing hard now, embarrassed at how much Maleficent had already known about her little escapade.

"To teach you a lesson," Maleficent replied with a shrug. "As soon as I caught Diaval in dog form, I knew what had happened and I instead opted to follow you and watch over you, just like always. But this time, I wasn't going to rescue you. At least not at first. It was high time you learned the true consequences of your actions and this seemed like the perfect time for it. I think I can say that it worked, and it was indeed a lesson learned."

As Maleficent finished her explanation, Aurora continued to look deeply embarrassed. So, not only had she failed to trick her caretakers, but those caretakers had actually caught on quicker because of all the holes in her deception than if she had simply tried to run! And not only that, but they had been following her the entire day! How embarrassing! Aurora really needed to get better at sneaking out… Lesson learned!

In the end, though, Maleficent was merciful. Although she insisted that Aurora serve out the rest of her sentence, plus one day to make up for this one, she did not extend the punishment, nor did she force anything else upon the poor girl. Instead, like she had said, she believed that Aurora had learned her lesson well enough this time that she would be a bit more careful in the future. And to be quite honest, Maleficent was just so pleased with herself for catching onto Aurora's ruse so easily that the mere act of getting to tell the girl just how much she'd already known erased most of her anger anyway. True, she was still worried and annoyed, but the look on Aurora's face when she realized that her crafty little plan hadn't been that crafty at all was enough to placate Maleficent's temper and decrease the severity of her punishment.

"Do I make myself clear?" the Dark Fairy asked once she had listed off the rest of Aurora's punishment.

"Yes, godmother," Aurora hung her head and nodded, fully in agreement that she deserved to serve out the rest of her sentence.

"Good," Maleficent replied, then she placed a gentle hand on Aurora's shoulder, to show the girl that she really only had her best interest at heart. "Let us go find Diaval. I believe he collected quite the meal for us while foraging and it would be rude to keep him waiting any longer…" she gave Aurora the smallest of smiles, which Aurora finally felt herself ready to return, especially at the thought of good old Diaval going out of his way to have a nice little meal prepared for them upon their return home.

Aurora really was lucky to have a family such as this, and she knew it all too well. Trying her best not to take them for granted anymore, she nodded her assent and reached out to touch Maleficent's arms, the two of them walking back through the trees and towards their home, where Diaval and his meal were waiting for them.

**AN: StoryReader01, here's the little followup with Aurora finally learning her lesson. I know I changed a few plot points, but I still hope you liked it. **


	3. Leaving the Nest

"Any particular reason you chose grounding, Mistress?" Diaval asked as he and Maleficent walked through the Moors together. Aurora's punishment had ended just a few hours ago and now that Diaval was finally free to travel without needing Aurora to come with him, he was curious as to what drove Maleficent to such a strange and human sort of punishment.

"I mean, I get that it is what humans do with their misbehaving young, but Aurora is more fairy than human. Why not choose something more Moorish?" the raven-man continued to ask. In the Moors, they preferred to discipline children with either a lecture, a lesson or hard labor in exchange for misbehavior. The human concept of grounding always seemed fairly pointless to Diaval. All it did was keep someone trapped, which was hardly a fruitful lesson. And being trapped was awful anyway. It seemed more like a method of torture than a disciplinary action, though of course, Diaval would never compare Maleficent's light sentencing to the equivalent of being locked away or trapped under a net or something like that. But he couldn't help but wonder about Maleficent's rationale.

"Besides, she tried to run out on us anyway and you let her go, even though we could've caught her easily," he continued.

For a time, Maleficent did not answer. It was because she didn't really know how to answer. Oh, she had a real reason for why she had chosen grounding over anything else, but it seemed like such a silly and selfish reason that she did not feel brave enough to share it. But after enough of Diaval's questions, Maleficent figured that she owed him an answer, if only to shut him up. He would keep musing until he got an answer anyway, might as well cut things short and tell him now before he continued to pester her until her ears fell off.

"I wanted to keep her close to me," the Dark Fairy said quickly. She spoke so quickly, in fact, that it took Diaval several moments to process what she had said. Once he got it, however, he understood immediately and his puzzled expression changed to one of compassion. He knew Maleficent better than anyone and he knew how protective she was over the things and people she loved, especially Aurora.

"You didn't want her leaving the nest," he said. It wasn't a question, but Maleficent nodded anyway. "Oh, Mistress…"

"I do not need your pity," she cut him off sharply.

"Oh, it is not that, Mistress," Diaval corrected himself. "I simply mean that I think you have it all wrong. You see, even though you were right to discipline Aurora, if you really think trying to impose some sort of detainment on her will work, I must ask you to reconsider that. She is yours after all. Nothing will ever hold her down, especially if she is really determined."

"I am all too aware of that, Diaval," Maleficent muttered, conflicting emotions rising up in her chest in response to this. It was true, Aurora was just as stubborn, powerful and passionate as she was. It was one of the many things Maleficent loved about her. But it was also one of the things Maleficent hated about her. No one could tell Aurora no, especially if, like Diaval had said, it was something that really mattered to her.

"But I think that may work out in your favor, Mistress," Diaval continued, a playful light entering his eyes.

"How?" Maleficent gave him a guarded look.

"Well…" Diaval gestured to a nearby tree where Aurora had been listening in on their conversation.

"Beastie! Have you been there this whole time?" the Dark Fairy sounded impressed, annoyed and embarrassed all at once.

"Sorry," came the sheepish reply. The girl skittered down from the tree. "I had asked Diaval to ask you why you chose to ground me, of all things, and I wanted to hear the full and honest answer."

"Well, did you get what you were expecting?" Maleficent asked dryly.

"Well, no," Aurora admitted. "But I am still glad I heard it anyway. I am sorry if you were ever worried I was going to abandon you and the Moors in favor of the human kingdom. That was never my plan at all! I just like to check in on them from time to time to make sure they're doing ok. Stefan really did a number on the land and economy and even though I have given most of my power to the people, I still like offering a hand whenever I can. I assure you, though, I have never once thought about leaving the nest. I like it here far too much and would much rather just stay here forever than go anywhere else, but I can't just leave the human kingdom to rot either. Not when I have the power to help."

And then Maleficent got to learn her own lessons that day. The first was why Aurora really kept visiting the human kingdom, and it was not out of a desire to rejoin them. It was, as she had said, a desire to help them gain some level of stability again after Stefan's tyranny brought them to ruin. And the second thing she learned was that, indeed, Aurora was a true Moor creature at heart. She really did love this place more than any other and she really would rather stay here forever than go anywhere else. Maleficent's fears, insecurities and secret jealousies were, although very real, unsubstantial. Aurora was not going to leave them now. Or ever! So Maleficent did not need to worry and she no longer needed to resort to petty or subtle tactics to keep Aurora close. Aurora wasn't planning on leaving anyway.

"Thank you, Beastie," Maleficent grumbled embarressedly as Aurora embraced her reassuringly.

"You're very welcome, Godmother," Aurora smiled into Maleficent's shoulders. Diaval stood off to the side, watching with a touched expression on his face. Then Maleficent caught that grin on his face and she shot him a warning look not to ever speak of this moment with anyone else ever again. His tender expression changed to one of innocence, silently promising not to say anything that might humiliate Maleficent later on. Satisfied with that, Maleficent's glare vanished again and Diaval gave her a playful, amused wink, which she responded to with a roll of her eyes. Theirs was an interesting family, but their love was true and that was all that really mattered.

**AN: StoryReader01, here's your "real reason being Maleficent grounding Aurora"**

**To everyone else, this is a non-canon portion of the story. In my original plan, Maleficent only grounded Aurora because that's what most parents do to misbehaving children. There was no deeper meaning to it. But this chapter is something of an AU (so to speak) writing that Maleficent grounds Aurora to keep her close, which is very in-character, I confess, but not originally what I had in mind. **


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